BiggerPockets

Hey everyone

I need some help. I want to get into real estate investing in the near future but I have a problem right now. I have put in an offer on a foreclosed house for my primary resident. The listing says that it is on 1.57 acres but the property is on a pie shaped lot and I did the figuring and I had other people in the excavating business do the calculations too and it comes out to be .66 acres. What can I do? I don't really want to back out because I like the house but I put a bid in on a house that is suppose to have 1.57 acres on it. Is there any way I can get them to take less since they accepted my offer and the listing is deceiving. They have the property as a rectangle at 326x210 and the engineering plot has it a 190x210x326 and the township as so has it a 1.57. So I really need to know if there is anything I can do. Please HELP.

Thank you Ben L

I believe you would need a licensed surveyor to stake out the boundaries of the parcel, based on the legal description recorded on the deed in the county courthouse. From the legal description alone (without staking things out), they should be able to tell you whether that would amount to the acreage being described.

Did your offer have the (rarely used) surveying contingency?

Note that the lot size of this property might just be as big as they describe, but the neighboring people may have encroached upon the land of this property.

Hello Ben!

Check with the agent to see if they are going off of city appraisal records (which are often inaccurate)...also, simply voice your concern...show them your calculations.

It is cause for you to re-negotiate the terms of the contract as far as pricing (if it is indeed incorrect), however this does not mean the seller has to accept your desired negotiation.

I would also suggest being reasonable..I don't know what land is worth in your area, but be reasonable in your re-negotiation and don't dramatically lower your offer. Before sending new paperwork, I would talk it over verbally with the agent and see if the sellers are willing to work with you. If they are, you can send an amendment to the contract with your desired re-negotiated terms, but remember, they can reject it.

Also, the only way to legitimately prove it is incorrect would be to survey the land, which, if you have not paid for a survey yet, will cost you some up-front money.

You can also see if the sellers have an old survey, as long as nothing with the land has changed since that survey.

Hope that helps!
Blake Templeton